Campaigning from the White House

During the 2008 campaign, then-Sen. Barack Obama’s staff tweaked the Clintons for renting out the Lincoln bedroom and Obama himself described George W. Bush as running “the most politicized White House in history.”

Now, as Obama’s re-election effort slowly gathers momentum, the White House is trying to balance Obama’s squeaky-clean brand with the bruising politics of a campaign headquartered in Chicago – but with a major branch office at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

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Obama kicks off 2012 campaign

POLITICO 44

“The campaign is being run out of Chicago – not the White House,” Obama’s communications director Dan Pfeiffer told POLITICO. “We will be coordinated but [2012 campaign manager] Jim Messina and his staff are in charge of the campaign.”

Still, the lines aren’t always distinct, and much of the highest-profile and controversial campaign activity thus far has taken place on the D.C. side of the Reagan-O’Hare shuttle.

The addition of senior adviser David Plouffe, Obama’s outwardly unassuming but commanding 2008 campaign manager, to the White House staff last fall sent an unmistakable message that Obama was trying to get control of his organization with 2012 fast approaching. Since the arrival of Plouffe, the White House hasn’t been especially shy about politicking, organizing and fundraising within ethical guidelines, federal law and their own interpretation of political propriety – even though they chafe at the idea that they are the Beltway tail wagging the Midwestern dog.

No laws prohibit the president or senior West Wing officials from engaging in electoral activity during their day jobs, although the 1930s-era Hatch Act prohibits them from using government resources to do so or to fundraise in U.S. government offices. Most federal workers, including White House staff, are permitted to politick during their off hours, but not while at work.

Yet the legal distinctions can be fine and hard to pin down. For example, White House aides and Obama cabinet members can’t solicit donations, but they are legally allowed to speak at fundraisers. And there are other nettlesome questions such as whether low-level White House staffers can be cleared for political work, where and when can they electioneer, and whether it’s okay to invite donors to the White House residence – even if you don’t actually ask them for money.

Complicating matters, Team Obama closed its taxpayer-funded political office, the center of White House political coordination since the Carter administration and last run for Obama by Patrick Gaspard, now at the Democratic National Committee.

White House spokesman Eric Schultz described the move “as part of an effort to make sure that White House staff and resources were being allocated most efficiently and effectively in support of the president’s policy priorities.”

But just four days after the office’s closure became public, an independent watchdog agency within the executive branch issued a long-awaited ruling slamming Bush’s Office of Political Affairs for repeatedly violating the Hatch Act by allegedly organizing the travel of cabinet members to advance political goals and conducting political briefings at government agencies.

Embedded in the Office of Special Counsel report was a finding that, in theory, rendered years of White House political work illegal: A determination that it was improper for junior staffers to engage in political activity on the job – even if that was their job.

Since the arrival of Plouffe, the White House hasn’t been especially shy about politicking, organizing and fundraising within ethical guidelines, federal law and their own interpretation of political propriety

I spit coffee through my nose and all over it when I read that line about "Obama's squeaky clean brand."

Where were these authors when Obama was openly bribing membes of Congress to vote for his socialist legislation?

Where were these authors when Obama was handing out diplomatic posts to those who raised the most money for his campaign?

Where were these authors when Obama took nearly a trillion dollars for "shovel ready jobs", then used the money for a slush fund to pay back those who supported his campaign?

Where were these authors when Obama was loading his cabinet and his "czars" up with communits, lobbyists, tax cheats and worse?

Where were these authors when Obama was ordered by a federal court to allow drilling in the Gulf and he openly defied it?

Where were these authors when Obama broke every campaign promise he made and told brazen lie after brazen lie, as he continues to do today?

NOTHING is beneath Obama. He is the most dishonest person to ever occupy the office. The reason we're in this recession is because business refuses to invest in a climate where no one knows what this guy is going to do next.

Or do the authors think that all this is perfectly O.K. - as long it's a Democrat doing it?

On this issue President Obama is Mr. Clean next to the Roto-Rooter smell of the George W. and Clinton presidencies.

I can almost set my clock by this Obama cultist postings.....Thanks!

Can you assure us ALL of those "small donors," are citizens of our country and did not go over their limit for donating directly to candidates, dear poster? Were the credit cards they used at OFA verified as their's and indeed were not someone else's M O N E Y?

It's funny how people have such short memories...or maybe they just don't know how politics was played in every white house since Kennedy...Obama's pretty clean in comparison...

Oh yeah, Obamacare was the cleanest bill in history right?

Jammed through in the dead of night, without debate, completely partisan, after refusing to submit a budget before hand and let the masses even read and comprehend what was in it for fear they would revolt as to its government growing nature and real economic shenanigans.

Mmmm Hmmm, a toilets drain pipe is usually pretty clean on the outside, in whats inside that sticks.

First, what is wrong with this website that a person CAN NEVER LOG IN THE FIRST TIME? Yeah, that's right, I'm yelling!

As with all other government buildings where campaigning is not permitted, it should extend to the White House. That building is funded by the taxpayers regardless of the fact that it houses a "residence."

Whose big idea was it to locate the Obama campaign in Chicago anyway? That's a charade too just like everything else this guy does.

First, what is wrong with this website that a person CAN NEVER LOG IN THE FIRST TIME? Yeah, that's right, I'm yelling!

As with all other government buildings where campaigning is not permitted, it should extend to the White House. That building is funded by the taxpayers regardless of the fact that it houses a "residence."

Whose big idea was it to locate the Obama campaign in Chicago anyway? That's a charade too just like everything else this guy does.

an independent watchdog agency within the executive branch issued a long-awaited ruling slamming Bush’s Office of Political Affairs for repeatedly violating the Hatch Act by allegedly organizing the travel of cabinet members to advance political goals and conducting political briefings at government agencies.

Embedded in the Office of Special Counsel report was a finding that, in theory, rendered years of White House political work illegal: A determination that it was improper for junior staffers to engage in political activity on the job – even if that was their job.

An independent Watchdog group WITHIN the executive Branch? What is that?

It is clear that both parties violate the Hatch Act on a regular basis. They also violate campaign finance laws on a routine basis and i have seen this with my very own eyes.

An example. An elected official shows up to a donor event. A large donor wants to give $50,000 to that politicians campaign. That politician can not accept it, so the politician tells the donor to give the $50,000 to the party directly with instructions to allocate it to the candidate. That is illegal and it happens every single day.

There is no controlling the crooks as long as they have to police themselves and there is so much money out there.